South African musician and actress Winnie Khumalo has died at the age of 51. Sunday World can exclusively reveal that Khumalo died on Tuesday at her home after a short illness.
Media personality, Sabelo “Ntombeningi” Sithole was one of the first few people to be contacted by Rethabile Khumalo, Winnie’s daughter.
Confirmed by close friend
“I was contacted by Rethabile, and I could hear from her voice that she was not okay. She asked me to rush to her mother’s house because Winnie was not moving. I rushed there and unfortunately it was too late. I am distraught and I have lost a friend,” cried Sithole.
He said he last spoke to Winnie on Monday, January 6 2025.
“I knew she was not fine, but I did not know she would come to this,” he said. Khumalo first rose to fame as a teenager, having been introduced to the music industry by the late Brenda Fassie.
Series of health scares over recent years
In November 2024, Khumalo was briefly admitted into a Johannesburg hospital after suffering from shortness of breath, which she later learnt was asthma. She said she was unaware that she suffered from asthma until an attack over the weekend.
Khumalo told media outlets then that she was recovering at home.
“I didn’t know that I had asthma until I had shortness of breath. I was so confused,” she said. “I have never heard of anyone being diagnosed with asthma at this age. But the doctors have told me it’s still in the early stages. They said I need to manage it well and just take care of myself.”
This was not her first health scare. A few years ago, she was diagnosed with diabetes. But she had successfully managed it.
“I take care of myself; make sure I eat well,” she added. She was also wheelchair-bound for a few weeks following a back operation and an abscess that had developed in her buttocks in 2017. Khumalo said then that she would also get through the hurdle.
“I am a fighter, everyone knows. Many of my peers have passed on. But I want to see my grandchildren grow old, so I pray for long life,” she said.
Back-up singer for late icon Brenda Fassie
The Soweto-born singer worked for Fassie as a backing singer. At the age of 15, she released the album Hey Laitie, Tshina Tshina (produced by Sello Chicco Twala).
It was followed by an album titled Dlamini, also in the 1980s. She also recorded a gospel album titled Izono Zami in the 1990s, produced by Pastor Langa Dube.
A highlight of her early music career was working with Brenda Fassie as Brenda’s backing vocalist. She has also worked with the likes of Pure Magic, Sipho Mbele, Brothers of Peace (B.O.P), Bongo Maffin, Zonke Dikana and DJ Cleo, among others.
Successful singing and TV acting career
Khumalo also had small roles in the SABC series Muvhango and Mponeng, in which she played a sangoma. She was also in a stage play titled The Journey. After a break from live performance and recording, Khumalo returned in 2008. She released a mature album titled I Just Wanna Live My Life. And it was produced and distributed by Kalawa Jazzmee Record’s Oscar “Oskido” Mdlongwa.
The video for I Just Wanna Live My Life was nominated for Best Dance Video and Best Afro Pop Video at the Channel O Music Awards. It was also nominated as one of the top five nominees at the South African Music Awards (SAMAs).
This was alongside DJ Oskido, Liqui-Deep, Big Nuz and Rhythmic Element in the category Record of the Year. Khumalo was selected to take part in the Shoprite Checkers Women of the Year competition as well as the Museke online Africa Music Awards.
Daughter also followed in her footsteps
She and Sello Chicco Twala composed a hit song that topped the charts titled Mina Ngiyohlala Nginje. Khumalo was seen performing it alongside then-President Jacob Zuma during the 2009 ANC election campaigns.
In 2011 and 2012, her daughter, Rethabile Khumalo, auditioned for the M-Net reality singing competition SA Idols. However, she was told by judges that she was too young for the competition. She later went on to launch a successful singing career.
In August 2024, her daughter Rethabile Khumalo was hospitalised after an alleged poison incident. “She was poisoned by a friend. She was in and out of the hospital but thank God she recovered. Rethabile has a small baby and had to fight,” the mom told a media outlet at the time.
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